30 August 2010
Dear Sir/Madam
I write in response to the article in theWeekend Australian Magazine August 21-22 titled Core Promises written by Peta Bee, on behalf of the membership of the Pilates Alliance of Australasia (PAA) an incorporated association who represents and works for Pilates professionals throughout Australia today.
The response from our membership base was disbelief that a published article in a respected newspaper sets out from the by-line:
“"Pilates and the other core-strength routines have long been touted as the key to good health. But the claims are
over inflated and its time they were burst"”
To dismiss the practice of a professional industry that is referred to by traditional medical professionals and other allied health practitioners consistently across Australia (and internationally) for rehabilitation and conditioning of clients is ill-informed. Also, our members strongly voiced their dissatisfaction with the descriptions and perspective of Pilates as is portrayed in the article, which demonstrated a lack of first hand knowledge and/or research into the true practice of Pilates by professionals who are registered by the Peak Pilates body in Australia. To appreciate our industrys perspective on Pilates, we need it to be understood that Pilates is a form of exercise that cannot be reduced to simply pulling in the belly button and sucking in the stomach, or workouts that are entirely dedicated to strengthening the deeply embedded muscles of the core.” For a workout to be a Pilates workout it requires that the whole body be exercised within the session through integrated movements that certainly offers a result in strong abdominal and back muscles, but also strong functioning gluteals, and musclulature right around the pelvis and shoulder complex, as well as in the extremities. The negative comments of Stuart McGill regarding the training of the transversus abdominus (TA) are comments we hear
whenever an article that sets out to destroy the Pilates myth comes to print. Undoubtedly Stuart McGill is a learned man, however it is obvious that he has not yet explored the actual work of a Pilates professional in this county. What he describes may be seen as the use of isolated activation of the TA that will be used by a physiotherapist within a clinical rehabilitation setting - not within a professional Pilates session, because within a Pilates setting the activation of the TA (and the other abdominal musculature) does not take place in isolation when undertaking Pilates movements. TA activation is part of overall muscle recruitment patterns required for efficient movement and physical control that Pilates sets out to achieve. Pilates professionals understand that, due in great part to the complexity of the movements within the Pilates repertoire, the whole body is in focus and that all movements require full body integration. Hence why Pilates since its inception nearly ninety years ago has been used specifically for rehabilitation and conditioning of the body (please note I did not isolate the reference to the low back). This brings us to the loud message from our membership; that the public be educated that professional Pilates delivery in Australia is highly regulated through the PAA. In order to structure membership effectively the Pilates Alliance has established a strict Competency Criteria agains which we map the certification programs run by the various educational bodies. This Competency Criteria has been drawn from the requirements of training according to VETAB accredited programs, crossed with standard requirements of instructor training as has been long held in quality international programs, and integrated with current understanding of the industry skills base. From this recognition of quality learning, membership is able to be granted on the basis of obtaining clear competency and measurable standards when Pilates is delivered by a member of the PAA, the Pilates will be a whole body, functional workout that is delivered by a professional with the appropriate education to deliver to the individual or who will refer on to another allied health professional if/when the need arises. Within the market place there are many falsely advertised Pilates or Fitness Pilates classes where the method has been stripped back to regressed exercises or fitness regimes that bear little or no relationship to Pilates and are delivered by individuals whose backgrounds are not recognized by the PAA. Unfortunately, often these are in a fitness setting where more than 20 participants of varying physical states are accepted into a class. The Code of Practice for PAA members clearly sets out parameters that our members do not work in such situations. The minimum standards for membership and the different levels are listed on our website: www.pilatesalliance.net .
To specifically respond to several other points:
That “physiotherapists have reported seeing a growing number of people who have suffered back problems as a result of poor Pilates technique. They tighten their low backs, stop breathing or drop the pelvic floor muscles when attempting to engage their core muscles”.Incorrect instruction of movement techniques is the result of the public attending exercise classes run by unqualified or insufficiently trained instructors that are not supervised or taught by Pilates professionals with appropriate credentials that are accepted by the PAA.
-The example given that Professor Nessor was unable to establish a link between good core stability and functional movement, and that “workouts need to focus on exercises that require balance, strength and stability” only supports the description of a professional Pilates workout whether during an equipment based session or in a Matwork class where the client is challenged to sit, stand, side-lie and support their body weight or work against resistance. The descriptor of the recommended workout absolutely describes a professional Pilates session whether it be Matwork or Equipment based studio sessions.
The quote by Eyal Lederman that “don’t expect to become immune to injury and don’t expect to improve your fitness if that is all you do” is backed up by the PAA membership who understand that Pilates does not profoundly affect the cardio-vascular system in the same way a run or cycling may, and would never expound the notion that only Pilates will improve the well being. Joseph Pilates himself wrote that daily cardiovascular
exercise as well as a healthy diet, coupled with Pilates three times a week would be ideal.
Finally, for those of us who train elite athletes with Pilates - no professional Pilates Instructor registered with full membership of the PAA would argue that the development of core strength be it through Pilates or other
methods would be the sole factor in determining if a sports person is better at their sport than another. The benefit of undertaking Pilates for an athlete is in both cross training and specificity training applications, and will
assist greatly in expanding an athlete’s resilience, stability, balance, strength, efficiency and particular address of complex movement pattern sequences, all of which will assist their overall performance and wellbeing.
In conclusion, the PAA and the professional Pilates industry, ask that more research is done on the work of Pilates professionals before an article be undertaken or published so that the actual facts and approach of qualified Pilates teachers be represented.
The PAA extends an open invitation to any person wishing to write or review the use of the Pilates Method, to meet with us and spend time getting to know what the Pilates Method entails and how it is approached by professional Pilates instructors. We would be happy to facilitate any contact with our membership that would allow for a more balanced and effective
understanding on Pilates in the contemporary Australian marketplace.
Regards,
Lanette Gavran
President of the PAA on behalf of the PAA membership
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